Comcast Reports 42M Have Signed-Up for Peacock Streaming

Comcast Corp.’s wireless business signed up a record number of customers during the first quarter this year, breaking even for the first time since launching four years ago.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the cable giant said Thursday that it collected $3.3 billion in net income during the three-month period ended in March, up 55% from the same period last year. The company’s revenue increased 2.2% to $27.2 billion.

Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile business signed up 278,000 wireless phone customers, bringing its total to 3.1 million lines. That’s still a sliver of the U.S. wireless market, but Comcast is aiming to lure more customers with industry-low prices. Earlier in April, the company cut rates for 5G unlimited plans to make them cheaper or on par with competitors Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

The company broke even on wireless before launching the new prices. Revenue from Xfinity Mobile rose 49.7% year-over-year to $513 million from January through March. Comcast officials have forecast wireless will become profitable this year, with CEO Brian Roberts calling wireless a “strategic priority” in January.

Xfinity Mobile, which operates on Verizon’s network, is only available for existing internet customers, a way to retain highly-profitable broadband subscribers. Comcast’s cable unit signed up 380,000 new customers, also a record for a first quarter. Revenues at the cable division were up 5.9% to 15.8 billion.

Launched in 2017, Xfinity Mobile now sells a single unlimited line for $45 per month, with the rate dropping to $30 per line for four lines. Direct comparisons are difficult because firms bundle other services, but Comcast’s $30 rate for four lines is lower than the $35 starting cost offered by Verizon and AT&T. T-Mobile sells four unlimited lines for $31.25 each, though customers can get a $5 discount if they enroll in autopay.

Revenues were down 9.1% to $7 billion at NBCUniversal, with theme parks continuing to take a hit from the pandemic. Sky, the U.K.-based pay-TV provider, saw revenues rise 10.6% to nearly $5 billion.

The NY Times reports the company, which includes NBC, Universal Pictures, several theme parks, and the Peacock streaming service, beat Wall Street’s expectations in its first-quarter earnings report on Thursday as it continued to shift its emphasis from cable to digital.

Results Highlights:

• 19 million cable subscribers, a loss of 491,000 since December
• 31 million broadband subscribers, a gain of 461,000
• 42 million sign-ups to the streaming platform Peacock, a jump of 9 million

Despite the regular pace of cord cutting, Comcast’s cable television business pulled in over $5.62 billion in revenue for the first quarter. That was flat compared with last year, but it’s still the company’s biggest business, accounting for a fifth of all revenue.

Peacock, on the other hand, is the fastest growing, but it loses the most money. Last year, it approached $700 million in pretax losses. This year, the streaming platform is expected to lose $1.3 billion as Comcast spends big to load it up with original shows and sports programming with the aim of attracting more viewers.